Rollercoaster it has been as yet we are comfortably camping in Bluff, Utah. Just mind games one goes through when outcomes of personal Health is yet to be announced. The scenarios? If the Nurse calls all is well... if the Dr calls, well, more scenarios on the forefront. I woke up this morning after the best night sleep ever as I always do in our tent, I woke up from a dream that sounded so real. I was on the phone with the Nurse and all was well. Message? I can only believe in it, there is no harm, there is much to gain. I am avoiding “primitive camping” for now only to have the ability to be reached when needed and this “Cadillac Park” is truly one of the most beautiful one we have been in. It feels as “home” to us, shaded site till late afternoon, quiet as only listening to the birds, the frogs and bullfrogs sounding like a heard of cows calling each other. The rides are of many, we have only been to the Gooseneck and Mexican Hat, we are taking it easy, Valley of the Gods will be next and an area filled with Hoodoos only locals know about. We have been here before, this is landscape and a space I never get tired of. Till next time...

Again, so fitting. “Valley of the Gods”. So near by when the sweet nurse's voice announced as I almost dropped the phone “no cancer”. Life came back rushing in with the strength of a hurricane force, my heart missed a couple beats, “are you sure....” I kept asking. With such high PSA numbers I can only see this as a miracle or as otherwise the Medical Field trying to continuously scare us “men” of a certain age. The ride, the always magical loop on this 17 mile dirt road was then of the best I have ever experienced. Priorities suddenly changed, “living” again and again came at the forefront of my soul, just living, nothing else truly now matters. We are still near by, we now have a mechanical problem with “Old Faithful” which I guess decided “well, if you are OK it is now my turn...”. I have no clue yet, could be throughout the transmission or the final drive, we might have to backtrack into the heat of Tucson for some repair. Seems this summer all has been delayed for our northern arrival... but then again, who cares! I am alive, Spirit will have to put up with me a bit longer, that is all that matters. Thank you for all that have send me your prayers and your incredible well wishes. Enjoy the Video and more photos on the Journal.

A difficult entry, thoughts traversing right and left, the fear of not being able to cover the repairs. As it stands right now, we cannot. It is the big one. We only have a few days ahead while staying at a Friend's house, the heat is intense here in Tucson and no transportation. I swallowed my pride in this new entry and in the Journal asking for help comparing these 658 chapters written these past almost 5 years, thousands of photos, maps, a few recipes, as the physical entity of a few Coffee Table Books, a subscription for a magazine? We are cornered. A couple days ago, only 50 miles into our ride the rear wheel locked, foreign loud noises of metal coming to pieces, I knew it was going to be it for a while. Our Dear Friend “Dean” drove 780 miles these past two days to get us to Tucson at the “Iron Horse” BMW Motorcycle Dealer. Amazing how Life has it's valleys and peaks... It was not long ago awaiting for biopsy results on myself, today it is awaiting for a different kind of mechanical illness to be taken care off. I am hoping to have this ability to appeal to our readers, I know at this point the future path depends on you, it truly does. It was an interesting concept how “Old Faithful” was put on the trailer and taken off. Many have already been involved through this process of getting her here hoping for many more to get her out of here and get us going again.

Could you vote for us in this photo contest which we are a finalist to be chosen as a "theme" for an upcoming Ron Howard Movie? 2 days left... There are 29 photos left in this Worldwide contest. We are one of them in the "relationship" category! (of course...). Here are the instructions (they could have made it easier!). Don't try any other way...

Open the link and click on "Enter Gallery" in the middle left. Scroll with the "right top arrow" next to the film strip and you will find our photo, one click will do. Our photo will come up as a thumbnail, click on the photo, the photo will come up and you can vote for us... please... Here is the link

All this happened too fast almost. The breakdown, 2 days to get to Tucson on a trailer, an outpouring wave of help and suddenly as fast seemingly as it happened “Old Faithful” is back on the road. “Iron Horse” in Tucson overwhelmed me, their handle on the situation has been exceptional. What a sweet sight it has been of “Old Faithful” in my Friend's garage while she is being “harnessed” again ready to take off Thursday morning. Boulder/Escalante in Utah... we have been trying to get there for it seems weeks now! The biopsy, the breakdown, this time it is a green light toward the weeks ahead rekindling our relationship with Mother Nature. So many have come forward as I sit here thanking everyone individually. It might take some time but it will get done. Tucson has been hot, hot for us, and the only “drive” was up one morning very early, Father's Day, up Arivaca Road which is also the road many locals ride. It was too early for any other vehicle, I needed some time alone to reminisce on my past times with Lance while the Sunrise, a beautiful one, was taking place on this Day always filled with the past memories. What a week it has been. Finally up is part III video of our Valley of the Gods ride and the sunrise photos...“Thank you” all that have come forward, those two words will never be enough.

Thank you for your votes! the photo is in the top ten now amongst 59,000 entries. More in a few weeks...

Imprisoned in my Freedom. Escalante. UT

The weather! HOT. Too hot for Spirit, a bit too much for me, sadly enough as we have just arrived in this area we will leave tomorrow morning, stop in Salt Lake City for a rear tire and make a B line for “Glacier”. It is unlike us to do so, but late moving on North Mother Nature is being a bit rough on us. Daytime is a furnace, it leaves a bit of early morning and evening maybe cooling off barely before Sunset. That is just how it goes these days. No complains though, we are mobile again and one more time “Thank You” for all that have rescued us, as there is no other word for it. I am still trying to “Thank” everyone individually, I will get there eventually as all is always only a matter of time. Riding again brings on many thoughts. The word “Freedom” has been bouncing around and around as today turning 63 (and Spirit “7”) I am realizing that there can never be a turning around, it is too late to go back ever to a Life which is not what it is today even if so at times like the present, Mother Nature forces us to move on from a space I so much love being. More on the Journal just posted...

We are now 20 miles away from Cody, east of it, still “out there” and yet Internet, phone connection, power, water, all is now available. No Bears and Mosquitoes! We spend a few days without it all as we do quite often, a primitive campsite off Grassy Lake Road, by “Flag Ranch” in the Tetons, the switch is always a shock to the mind. The more time we spend “off grid” the harder it is to face this screen and yet, I enjoy it, I enjoy sharing the path we have taken, the photos trying to convey a certain sense of another reality we have embraced. This was the first we explored the “Tetons” and what magnificent space it is with it's snow covered peaks, more snow this year than ever, the “Snake River” near by within a few feet (reason for the Mosquitoes!) playing it's constant melody so soothing inducing a good night sleep as never before. It was a slice of Paradise as now we we look for another one, and another one! “Bear's Tooth Pass”. We have been here before, it is on our way north to the Glacier and hopefully a bit of Canada as long as we can handle the logistics. A few favorite photos now on the Journal have made their way... this technology does not cease to amaze me...Till next time...

It does not happen often for us to camp with others. No one has the time or takes it, more important generally is more the emphasis on the distance covered leaving on the wayside the quality of the “moments”, fast forward is the blur of the road with only the fact which can then indeed be pronounced “ we have been here and there...”. “Sandy”, “Terry” and their soon to be 10 year old “Jack” are on a different tangent smelling and feeling the road, and yes, they also put on the miles, they know how to balance it all with their outgoing message “you can also do it...”. It was a good time, a very good time cooking, chatting, exchanging the road stories as many they always are. A couple dinners, a ride nearing the Grand Tetons, shopping for provisions, a bit of fishing for Jack (never caught anything as my frying pan was ready!), a bit more of guitar playing, our own incredible display of lightning and thunder on the Fourth of July and plenty of Photos... all on the Journal for now, looking for a better connection to upload a video I took while riding behind them. So long my “Friends”, soon again I hope...

So last week for some rare moments my true anger rose to the surface as invited to a campground, Spirit gets attacked by a dog, owner who had been warned, owners, a couple working on the premises, both “alcoholics”, a pathetic path of Life they are on. Turns out the owner of the campground also is. Amazing how these people congregates. Even more amazing is how I fell into that unpleasant situation. Spirit is fine, saved by my foot and his leash. It was a close call. That is where the title “Footprints from Wyoming” came from. It was a dark time. We then moved on quickly to the “Logging Creek” Campground, our last entry, found by my nose, an isolated primitive campground off #89 before “Great Falls”, MT, this after some incredible riding through “Lewis and Clark” Forest. I actually think we saw them, they are everywhere from East to West, from Washington and Oregon to even California I think. The gravel roads where exceptionally well taken care off showing a network of them on the map, firewood was plentiful, water from a creek, white tail deer visiting the site, not bear visits... It has been the other side of the coin, peaceful days with only a few storms here and there in the late afternoons.

I realize our Journal is chronologically off as connections on the road are not quite often readily available and for more reason, as I write this, we have already left the “Glacier” sitting for a couple of days in Lander, WY. I have been feeling defeated by the swarms of mosquitoes taking away any sense of being there, campsite that is, within the moments, instead fighting off the waves of those annoying creatures, spraying clothing with 100% Deet and watching Spirit himself while covered with Eucalytus-Lemon spray being attacked to no end. Many have come forward with other possible solutions, nothing, meaning “nothing” has worked. The bottom line? Move on for now. On the other side of the coin it was one of the best rides ever from East Glacier to Lander. Back roads to no end, a good tail wind, even the ride through Yellowstone and Tetons on a Sunday afternoon was of a fast pace without too many cars stopping in the middle of their lanes to watch and photograph a squirrel go by. Where from here? With the constant thought of staying cool, Colorado sounds like an attractive space for a while, higher elevations, and who knows, maybe the mosquitoes will be of the old breed... a bit tamer. Enjoy the photos and a video through Logan's Pass. The lower part playing this time.